My Life

Quality work

2008-05-11T14:07:00.000+08:00

I realize that when I set some goals, I did not go all out to make sure it was quality stuff. I have not put in 100 percent effort to be satisfied with myself. I feel it should be the quality of work that you produce, and not only just to produce work and let people see that you have done your job.

What I can learn from that asswipe in school is that he consistently produces quality work to the end of its shelf life even though his attitude and people management sucks. That is what I have realized. And that is I think the big difference between him and me.

After reviewing, I realize there is a need for a change of my habits, less procrastination and more productivity.

There are 2 quotes that say, “If you cannot do well at it, you might as well don’t do” and the other one “It is better to do something imperfectly than doing nothing perfectly”
So this is something to ponder about.

Life revamp

2008-04-30T23:33:00.000+08:00

I need a life revamp. There have been some tweaks in my life lately and expectedly, everything is affected. I need to review back what I should do and plan everything properly from now on. I need to do stuff consciously instead of subconsciously and only then can I keep track of what I am doing.

These few weeks have been total disarray. With my exams looming, what I really focused on was my studies and nothing else. So financially I was in a total mess as I spent and spent without really looking into what I bought. That sucked.

What I learnt from this is that when you have some priority high up like the exams, its very very easy to neglect your other plans. That is why you see people binge during exams even though they were trying to lose weight in the first place. The exams priority is much much higher and you don’t really care about anything except your exams. Maybe its just nature and it works like this, but I need to change on this aspect.

I believe with constant good time management and hardwork, I will not fall short on my dreams and aspirations.

Sports Day

2008-03-22T20:16:00.000+08:00

Wao, my school held a Sports Day event and I was lucky to go! It was a reminisce of my sec sch days years back, and the event was exactly as last time, with the cheering and different coloured houses supporting their own kinds.
The difference is that I was assisting the colleagues in controlling the Sports Leaders who made up of students, and boy was it fun interacting with them.
That was a day off from my work at school.

Lack of that confidence

2008-03-18T22:06:00.000+08:00

It seems weird. People have been coming to me saying I will go far in what I do and stuff, but I don’t feel that I am able to do it. I just just lack that confidence, or maybe I am able to mask the insecurities in me in front of them. I do not know.
Anyway Sports Day tomorrow, and I am one of the participants. Will have a blast.

Back!

2008-03-15T21:45:00.000+08:00

This blog is really dying in a fast rate. 1st update in more than a month. I want to say work has been a bit bad due the office politics, but the fun is with the staff there is too much for me to hand over my resignation. So, no resignation yet.
I was even asked to stay on by my boss and he wanted to increase my pay if I did. I said okay, we shall see, but I think I will not stay on long there.
One of the biggest reasons I want to leave is to pursue my networking career. I think that is my forte and the reason for me to join this course in Poly. System Administration is 2nd choice for me.
One of the biggest mistakes that I realized is that I seem to think that whenever I got in interviews, I could get the jobs. Before that, we have discussed the pay, the working hours and so on, so I thought I could definitely grab this job.
One of the interviews that I went was so super technical, that in my head, I was about to give and just go home. The interviews drilled me on the networking questions and asked me to draw some diagrams etc on the whiteboard, which I did, but was total crap.
What I learnt is that, even if you do not know the answer, just be confident and just speak up and answer. I should have done that.
One of the interviewers also told me it will be useless to take a super enthusiastic person but is not able to contribute to the company/
I got the first hurdle in getting the interviews, but failed at the second ones. It has been like this, but I will put an end to it.

Special students in normal schools

2008-02-12T23:15:00.001+08:00

Now the government has allowed children with learning difficulties to join the normal education system. I do not know what is their true reason behind MOE’s intention, but I think it will put more burden to the already stressed teachers. Children with ADHD, Dyslexia and other disorders which many the public is not aware are given chance to be in the normal schools. Will this help them in future? Futher probes from teachers reveal that personally they thought that this will not be a good idea, as their skills basically stay stagnant.
I have also saw teachers treating a dyslexic person differently from the normal kids, as he was not able to communicate with his rather weird antics. This is understandable in the normal person’s point of view, but is his parents were to see it, it would be a different case already.
What I also realized and feedback from the guys there is that to raise up the ranks you really need to have a glib tongue, or maybe not to the extend of glib tongue, but at least is able to communicate really well with all levels of ranks. This is one of the hardest parts of communication I feel.

Other people are sadder than us

2008-02-08T22:20:00.000+08:00

At times you might realize that you face a lot of problems and you see your friends, siblings and those near you are so happy and carefree and you curse yourself for being unlucky not to be like them. After experiences with lots of people, I realize that many lives are not a bed of roses. They may look happy, chirpy or whatever, but deep inside they feel some misery of some sort.So when you feel down or hard on the luck, just remember that other people, someone close to you might most probably feel the same way as you or even worst. It just depends on the situation.

The Cage

2008-02-07T11:04:00.000+08:00

Last Friday I went to The Cage for a soccer match. I have heard about the hype of the place and would like to experience it albeit the 10 bucks payment.
It was raining and lucky for me, my friend has a motorbike. It was a cold night and the wind that blew when we rode the bike did not help.
We reached there, changed into our soccer kits and waited while the rest of the chaps finished their games. We had a total of 4 teams altogether. I thought that the 2hr booking was not sufficient, but I was wrong.
The first game I played, I was really energetic chasing every ball, doing my own solos. But by the fourth game, I was terribly tired and felt like my body was about to burst.
The cool thing about this place is also the makeshift grass. It makes it feel like you are on the field, but not exactly on the field. Ball was much easier to control and individual skills were made to shine.
Some of the chaps wore boots, some wore street soccer shoes. The difference between this place and a normal street soccer court is that for the latter you could do more sublime skills with lesser room for errors. That is why you have to be careful.
The bad part, my friend sprained his ankle. :(

After the match

How to love your job

2008-01-21T20:25:00.000+08:00

My VP said, what kind of work is best? It is when you have fun. And when do you have fun? It is when your working relationship with people around you is good and happening. Think about it, as I certainly think so and blessed with a good boss and nice buddies, this makes me want to leave my job even harder.
There reason for me contemplating leaving is that there is too much politics and backstabbing going on in the IT department that I am not able to give 100 percent dedication to my job. And if I am not able to dedicate my all, then what is the point staying? It will be unfair for the school also.

What I feel about teaching part 1

2008-01-16T21:47:00.000+08:00

Teaching seems to be somewhat a stable, high profile and respectable job, but behind the scene, it is a whole different story. I am not sure about primary school, but students in secondary schools can be really nasty and fearful.
Just a few days back one of the teachers’ car got scratched by one of the students. He suspected that the student he scolded and disciplined must have done that. I have seen teachers being mocked at by students, and this particular teacher is really damn kanchiong. I am not too sure why. There is also a teacher that I saw who neglected the discipline of the class as she could not control it anymore and just kept on teaching even when the class was noisy and quite a handful of them was sleeping. I was really appalled. Most probably she wanted to just get her high pay and just go with the flow, not stressing herself with all the rebellious punks.
I have also seen quite a number of medication that were dispensed by doctors and they were written “anti stress pills” and from there and all other instances, I knew it was not easy being a teacher. Some teachers have also contemplating to quit once their 3 year MOE bond has ended. Teaching industry is not for everyone, as I think about 30 percent of your day would be teaching and the rest are crappy admin stuff and meetings to be done.
Gone are the days when students are fearful of discipline masters and now, we welcome punks with long dyed hair into the local education. It is really embarrassing.

Update after a long time

2008-01-13T20:05:00.001+08:00

It has been a long time since I updated. I have been too damn busy this few days and I have little time to myself. What I realized is that it is all about time management and how you handle all the workload at work and home.

Work has been great fun and providing service is superb when customers are polite and appreciative of what you are passionately doing. Even though this job has not OT pay, I go to the extra mile to stay back late to ensure I know my stuff and that things are in proper order. The only bad thing is that my workplace closes at 6pm, if not I would have stayed back till late night like what I did back when I was in the Army.

When I first entered the IT industry, I was skeptical of whether I could cope with the demands as I was still a freshie my IT skills was all left in my Poly days. Heck, mine was more towards the Networking and programming side of IT, but my current workload is more towards system administration and MOE approved software like Lotus notes and VPN client. So the lack of knowledge and experience in this has led me to being insecured.

During the holidays there were not many students and teachers as well, and during such periods are the times when we could relax a bit. I found out that after school reopened it was much more hectic and multitasking is a need.

Apart from IT management, I also bakaliao everything that concerns technology, and that includes doing things beyond my jobscope like troubleshoot projectors and visualisers and I am providing this service out of goodwill. Searching for vendors, purchasing of IT equipment is also done partly by me. So in other way I contact with a lot of people and it is fun I must say. One of the vendors has also asked me to call him for work should I quit my job, and he gave me his number.

What I realized about students nowadays is that they are more rebellious and teachers are less able to control them. Teachers are slaves to parents and whenever parents complain on a particular teacher, he will have no say in anything but just keep queit like a mouse unless the big Principal intervenes, which I doubt so. Principal will in turn support the parents in fear that parents will complain to MOE, so as to safekeep their VIP position. Almost 70 percent of the students there have long hair and this is a shocking revelation for me as back when I was in Sec 4, none of this would be tolerated.

I have happy with my job right now, even though tiring. I face many difficulties here, but I take it as a positive challenge, so that kind of create a sense of excitement in it.

Last Sunday was the first time I ran since November last year. I wanted to try out how I would fare in my running, and it was not all that bad. I felt fresh and I want to start this regime. Comparing slow jogging and running 2.4KM, I would prefer the latter as frankly speaking it is more challenging than jogging 5 KM or so and I relish it a lot.

War is coming soon this Wednesday due to some politics that is happening at my workplace, and I will update on that whether it would be the deciding factor I quit my job or not.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

2007-12-26T22:26:00.000+08:00

Oh isn’t this phrase damn true? I have seen many people quit just like that when experiencing hardship be it mental, physical and whatnots. I am guilty as well at times. My experience in the Army has really reaffirm this belief to instill in me now and in the future. I am facing loads of craps, metal torture etc, but I am going to endure. I know all these will improve me and make me stronger and this is going to be a test of patience and mental prowess.

Like what my current superior has told me “Don’t think so much, and just ENDURE” Endure is the key word.

Customer Service

2007-12-25T11:48:00.000+08:00

What I feel about customer service is that you provide the highest quality of service you can give and make sure the customer is pleased with what you have given. Many a times, people try to do that, try to please customers and stuff, but in the end, it seems really fake. I guess people tend to enjoy all these fakeness or probably they might not even realize what these service people are trying to achieve by doing that.

Customer service is superb when done at its best and when the receiver feel extremely satisfied with what we provide. If it goes to the extend that it creates an eyesore to onlookers, then it sucks and basically it is known as carry balls in layman’s term.

New perspective

2007-12-18T21:54:00.001+08:00

The great part about working outside is that you will meet a lot of people of different kind. My kind of work is half on the service side and half of technical and I am meeting a lot of people and dealing with their technical problems everyday. The fun part about it is that you get to learn on how to deal with all of sorts of response from them, be it positive or negative, and the ways they use to achieve their goals.

For one guy, he told me that in every situation he faced, he will come up with a smile despite the stress, while another big shot told me that I have to be firm in achieving my wants and goals and I must not fear what they think and feel as long as what we are doing is right. I believe and will do what she has said to a certain extend.

The job has also changed my perpective from being a perfectionist to doing things the best I can do and if it still fails, escalate matter to the higher levels. I should have implemented this idea when I was in the army. Now it is already too late, but it is not the end of the world. I realize if we are positive about our surrounding, taking all craps as it is, absorbing them, soon we realize we are able to learn from them, improve ourselves and there will be less stress.

Time wasting

2007-12-09T21:01:00.001+08:00

My head hurts quite bad after being hit by a guy when playing soccer at NTU just now. He hit me in the jaw accidentally but it pain sprang to my head too. So I kind of having a headache right now.

The best way to waste time and let time move faster than you can realize is to talk cock with fellow friends and colleagues and make yourself get enchanted in the discussion. I easily lost 2 hrs of my precious time doing that, and that was a real time killer.

Lesson learnt.

Stress

2007-12-06T21:06:00.000+08:00

The most stressful moment was when the network was down just now, and I tried to find the source of the problem but to no avail, and teachers are expecting me to solve all IT problems, which I think sucks. As users they will get impatient, this is understood when things are not done at the right time. Like just now, when the core switch does not respond despite blinking, what could I do, I could not configure it, I have not access to the configurations, moreover I am also unsure how to do it!
This is an experience for me to prepare myself further in time to come.
The talk with the principal is really a motivating one, a chap that keeps encouraging us to upgrade ourselves and study.

De Clutter

2007-12-04T08:36:00.000+08:00

A mess at your workplace can really mess up your thoughts and productivity. When I first arrived work, the place was literally in shambles and I did not know how a worker could even survive there. Most probably he was used to that condition, or he had other priorities other than clearing the mess.

Forgetful people like me would certainly appreciate a neat and tidy area for work. Things get better organized and people will see you in a different manner altogether. Clearing the clutter is like doing make up and presenting yourself well. It is similar.

My office was in total chaos with notes and files everywhere. Software CDs were lying around, not labeled. It was totally demoralizing. Teachers that visited the area had the precautious kind of look, scared they might step on a harddisk or whatever is on the floor. This is the kind of image that I do not want to portray. I took nearly 3 days to minimize the clutter, and I am still not satisfied as I think more could be done to further minimize it.

You give impression to people usually at the first sight. Once they see you in this kind of cluttering manner, their mindset shifts to negative and they will remember you for that. It is hard for them to trust for you to get things done.

People say appearance does not matter and what is important is skin deep. Do you think so? Think about this.

Okay, a 2.5inch external casing has just been bought to retrieve data from faulty notebooks of the users.

Music off Friendster, blogger etc

2007-12-02T22:14:00.001+08:00

People with self promoting website like Friendster or Blogger seem to add loads of additional items like music, and basically things that come out voices and noise. They put Micheal Jackson or Rod Stewart ballads on the sites, making known to people out there what kind of music they appreciate or doing some sort of promotion of the artiste himself, for free..so the artiste get free publicity heh.

Many a times when this happens, I would just get out of the site as soon as possible, killing off one potential reader, who may probably be a fan of that site one day. It is really annoying to the ears when your focus is to read, but unexpected noises suddenly pop up just to irritate you.

I know many other users feel the same way as me, and for those with the self promoting website who still want to remain that way, so be it, until one day when you kill off readers one by one.

Of Uni, CCNA, Gadgets, and a goal

2007-12-02T11:44:00.000+08:00

Everything is going well right now. I have heard from my friend that she quitted her job when she went through her part time uni. She could not cope and I am afraid that I would end up like her as well if I took up my degree next year.

My job is too technical currently, and I am more towards the creative inquisitive type of person which kind of conflicts. CCNA that I am taking right now is quite technical too, and my study rate is very very slow. Only 3 chapters for 3 weeks.

One of the important traits anyone should have is patience, which I am currently lacking. I want to achieve so much, but in so little time, which does not make sense. I am rushing stuff far too much.

Gadgets

My P1I has been a wonderful servant to me so far. I get to see all my documents on the go and the productivity that I get is enormous. It is feature packed, and I have yet to unleased its fullest potential. QWERTY keyboard makes life so much easier. With a good macro abled camera, I must say tracking items is a breeze.

My Swiss Army Knife is also there when I need it. Equiped with a mini screwdriver, a small little penknife, a pair of pliers, cock opener, and so much more interesting stuff, I am no longer stuck when unforeseen circumstances shoots me in my face.

My 24 set of interchangeable screwdrivers that I firmly pack inside my green Army bag is also one heck of a tool that prepares my to open any item that has been secured by any attachment you could ever name.

Oh what a bliss to have all these productivity equipment sitting at back of you, backing you up when the environment go against you.

Focus and goals

One thing about my 30 day goal was that as time for the ending came nearer, around 5 days reaching. I found myself to spend more and more. What I have concluded was that in attaining our goal, we have to be really focused, and what really distracted me was my job and a lot of stuff that went through my mind. Attaining our goal might be a bit painful, like bringing food from home, not being able to spend food when you go out with friends etc, but at the end of the day you would be punching the air in gusto when you see your bank account properly maintained. The joy of it is hard to explain in words.

I will try other 30 goals and see if I am able to do it. I believe I can.

Inspire

2007-11-25T12:15:00.001+08:00

I am prone to inspiration. When I see someone excelling in their fields or have a achieved great successes, it gets me turned on and that is where I strive to be like them or better in the near future.

Had been an absolutely busy week, and I think I am still not THERE yet, as in there is still a lot of areas of improvement to work on. I just need that focus, which is currently not stable.

Cannot focus

2007-11-20T22:44:00.000+08:00

I think it would be quite hard for me to mix studies when I work during the day. I will lack focus towards my job and quality is being sacrificed. I need to revamp my time management and the key is consistency. That is what I found out when I was in the army to achieving quality result. Maybe someone with a higher caliber can manage this, but I think I am not able to do so due to that lack of focus.

Mistakes

2007-11-18T22:57:00.000+08:00

In life we do make mistakes. It is unavoidable. Some people are just too scared of errors that it prevents them from taking action and proceed on with life. The important thing about mistakes is that it gives you the experience and you learn are able to rectify it. I see many people who are too scared to take the first step that they got stuck in their neutral position. Many see mistakes as the end of opportunities, where our mindset has to change.

Lucky

2007-11-12T19:55:00.000+08:00

There was a couple talking to each other that time. While talking, a bird flew pass and let go of its dropping coincidentally in front of the couple. It landed just directly in front of them. One of them cried out loud. It created some sort of commotion between them. I could look the mixture of shock and thankfulness in them.

That is what we call lucky.

Bee Movie

2007-11-10T23:59:00.000+08:00

A great superb show.

A must watch.

A type of show that will make you vomit if you are the type that laughs easily.

End

Gratitude

2007-11-08T22:42:00.001+08:00

In our pursuit of excel and achievement, we often forget to stop and think back what we have already possess and overcome. Most of our sense of anger, sadness and bitterness is due to the fact that we seldom reflect on what we have right now.

Some may whine that their life sucks, the parents are bad, or maybe you are still stuck a virgin when you are already 70 years old, but come to think twice, you have to realize that there are people worst off than you and you should be glad and thankful that you are not stuck in the rut.

If you lived in a 3 room flat and you keep lamenting that you have no space to study and stuff, think again, as there are people who do not even have a place to live.

We have to consciously think in this manner, if not we will always be bitter about life.

30 Day Goal No Spend update

Again, I spent again. It cost me 1.50 bucks for an ice cream at Clarke Quay when I chilled out with my best bud yesterday. So far so good, as I only spend on things that I really really need and not on some wants. But this kind of niggling small matters will end up a big one if we do not consciously control it.

Gratitude

2007-11-08T22:42:00.000+08:00

Hawkers wearing gloves

2007-11-06T22:26:00.000+08:00

The reason for using gloves in dealing with foods in hawker centres is hygiene. Hawkers grab foods with their gloved hands, confident in handling them with cleanliness. After everything is packed, they receive the payment with their covered hands. Again.

If they did that, what was the use of having the gloves in the first place. They might as well not use gloves. If the notes or coins were contaminated with shit or something, then buyers will have problems at home.

I see some more “consciously” educated hawkers receive the money with their other hand. This is a wiser choice compared to some, especially Malays, who regard receiving anything with the left hand as being rude.

Sometimes we have to weigh our options properly. I think everybody would agree that being so called rude is much better than having diarrhea at home.

They will have to think this way.

First strenuous activity

2007-11-03T14:36:00.000+08:00

My first soccer and strenuous exercise since the fasting month. I felt my fitness was still there. I could still sprint but by the third match of a 12 minute game in Woodlands Secondary, I was already tired. It was probably due to the shoes I wore. It was not a proper pair of soccer boots. After the game, I felt very shagged, but the nasi lemak was really energy filling. The senior citizens not only had a lot of stamina, they were skilled as well.

My colleagues were the ones that asked me along to play. There will be one at NTU, but I am not sure if I could recover before the day comes.

I realize that any achievement I made, to others, as long as I could achieve it, they thought they could achieve them as well with ease. This is totally bull crap. Sometimes I really want them to be in my shoes and see if they can handle the work loads and see if they can achieve similar or better than what I have done.

Maybe in front of them I appear nonchalant and “unachievable” but behind the scene I am the other way round. Maybe if one day I become some big shot, all those that have underestimated me might well think that going all the way to the top is easy, which I do not think so.

Reflections

2007-11-02T21:05:00.000+08:00

I love to reflect on my actions and whatever stuff that comes my path. Maybe that is one of skills, a passion for reflection, which may be time consuming and squeeze the brain cells mercilessly. I think reflection is one of the best ways to improve oneself. After a hard day’s work, I will try to reflect what went wrong and what went on well, and I will try to improve from there. When I make the mistakes again, I say it is normal and continue to buck up.

Since I started work, my diet is not controlled. I have been enjoying the loads of fatty foods like beef rending and coconut milk laden gravy for a few days on the trot. I kind of enjoy them, but thinking how I would end up 10 years from now, I should put a stop to this. I never in eating galore felt a tinge of guilt. But it is time for a change and a healthier diet and me.

Today is the 8th day of the 30 day goal. I spent 4 bucks on a meal. I had to do that as my friend invited me for it and if I had not eaten with him, it would actually look bad and rude. So I had eat. This is another obstacle to my goal. I realize another thing is that whatever goal I set, there is sure to be obstacle along the way, and it is only remains on me to be focused.

Less time for fitness

2007-10-30T22:40:00.000+08:00

It has been more than a month since I last ran. I do not even know if I could pass my 2.4KM man. What I realized is that Singapore Food Industries food from the army is really calorie intensive for the really chiong sua personnel. It also has too much carbohydrate and more fats and less protein. They have their reason in doing this.

I am really focused on working till I think I neglect my daily runs. I have so much to strive for, but currently passing the IPPT with flying colours is not in my mind right now. I will certainly train when the IPPT window is up next year.

I did not spend anything today. My 5th day only, and the habit is getting on me, so it is good.

Self critic

2007-10-29T22:13:00.000+08:00

I realized ever since I entered Army that self criticism helps in self improvement. You discuss issues in your head and with posivity we try to rectify our mistakes. The fact when people get negative when these criticisms got in their head is because they pull themselves down when these thoughts enter the minds.

Today is my 4th day of my no spend goal. So far so good, but I had to spend 2 dollars on some urgently needed files and 10 dollars for my little cousin angbao. Arrgh, that is 12 bucks in 4 days. This comes to show that whatever plans we have, though concrete, will have obstacles along the way. But I will continue my goal till the end of the day and see how I progress.

The guilt that eats you up

2007-10-26T21:58:00.000+08:00

I have seen many people do something on impulse, and then get guilty by it and they commit the act more and more. Some who wanted to lose weight ate a bit of food and being guilty by not maintaining his diet properly, they continue to binge and then from there the guilt builds on.

I have also seen friends who feel guilty when they splurge on some expensive items, and they continue doing that as they felt since they have already overspent, they might as well continue to spend to satisfy the guilt.

In reality, if we stopped being guilty, things would not have been as serious as in feeding the guilt with more rashness and impulsivity

Update for the No spend for 30 Day goal
Yesterday and today I did not spend a single cent on anything. It is already 2 days, and 28 more days to go.

Not to spend

2007-10-24T23:19:00.000+08:00

I am on a goal right now. I am not to spend a single cent everyday. If there is a need, I will buy the cheapest I can get. I will try this for 1 month and see how it goes. The goal of this is to see whether I am able to survive by not spending. Sounds lame, but I want to see the result. It is like a test of resisting seduction.

My experiment on smiling

2007-10-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

When I try to smile when I talk, my voice seems to be more pleasant than when I produced a straight or poker face. Everyone around me seems to be so happy and they feel like talking non stop. My 3 day experiment worked, heh.

When I produced that straight face, there was a deadly sharp silence, but the moment I smiled, all is chirpy again, and the difference could be seen drastically. Its amazing how the human mind and psychology is wired.

From this experiment, I conclude that smiling open doors to many opportunities

Why everyday is such a drag

2007-10-22T21:41:00.000+08:00

My days used to be a drag and unpurposeful until I entered Army. Everyday I had a goal to achieve and complete, and that was the main reason I persevered to wake up at 545 am every morning to go to camp to avoid the morning rush. For me, Army was not chore. My days used to be filled with not knowing what to do and just to pass the day off. That was why I found myself to be waking up late and the daily routine of going to school pained me.

When I entered Army, I soon realized it was the opposite. I had a mission to accomplish and make things to be in order. Although it was not perfect, and somehow it affected my esteem, the mission certainly created a drive in me to proceed on with the days. Due that, my days were occupied and productive.

I did not realize this logic until I stayed at home trying to recall what made me so enthusiastic about the army. I then discovered, it was the goals and missions I subconsciously built in my mind that pushed me on.

As soon I realized this fact, I tried to build mini daily goals that I wanted to achieve during my offs and leaves before I ORDed. It was superb, and I felt so enriched and at ease in the mind. My days were productively filled.

It takes a little effort to create these goals, but many like myself, usually avoid doing it.

Whenever it feels like a drag to go to work, the goals that I have created in the mind is usually a painful and negative one. For example, I say the goals of working today are to complete my task and duties. People view this as a pain, as the word tasks and duties imply chores that people find it hard to overcome.

If I had said my goals today is to learn so and so at work, and when I feel that it benefits me, the association of pain is removed and pleasure comes to play.

That was how I got motivated to go to work and handle all the crappy stuff at camp.

Time past so fast!

2007-10-18T20:14:00.000+08:00

The week is passing too fast for me. The Hari Raya has since become a nostalgic moment for me. I want it back badly. The atmosphere, the cohesiveness of the community was apparent during the festive season coupled with the traditional songs by the guys from the olden days. The feeling was superb. Right now it is coming to Friday, and when Monday comes, that is when the blues arrive, as work starts from there.

Hari Raya and Miscellenous

2007-10-15T11:43:00.000+08:00

This is the 3rd day of Hari Raya. The first day of Hari Raya was a memorable one for me as I binged all the oily foods and sweet treats like there was no tomorrow. This is my first time in I guess 3 years that I have gobbled and binged so much food. I did not feel any sense of guilt as this is the reward for the 30 days of fasting and discipline. I continued the eat when I visited my relatives’ house.

My lack of desire in Malay foods also was one of the reason that I did not binge to the brink that my tummy could explode. If it was Chinese, that would have been a different.

Despite that, I did not any see any significant change in my health or energy. I did not feel sluggish or tired when I did the unthinkable binge. The main thing I realized is that you are able to do that for 2 days, and the fact that people get so disorganized in their thoughts after a binge meal that they continue to binge and binge to overcome the guilt.

This is an evil process and this is happening to a lot of people in this world including little vainpots aka girls.

Basically I ate all the oily and fattening stuff that my mother cooked in celebration of the holy period, therefore, I feel pleased and satisfied. The food was for a purpose, for the sake of enjoyment, and to satisfy all the craving we had during the fasting month.

I realized that during the fasting month I could not eat a lot. The surge of food consumed in the night made me bloated and that is when I could not focus on what I was supposed to do. It made my mind go haywire. I craved for a lot of foods but I had to limit them, as it would bring bad consequences later.

The fasting month was the test of willpower. I could not do many physical activities like I would love to due to insufficient water and nutrients during the day. I could do it, but it would make me lethargic later in the night which will affect my productivity.

My official leaves and offs from my camp has been wonderful, as I could reflect on my goals and what I have not yet achieved. There are still many I have not done, and slow by slow I will try to make it happen. I am crippled in many ways, but determination and hardwork will pay off.

I love the army and its lifestyle. If only I was an officer, no doubt I would have signed on. Becoming a spec, there is a limit. Even if you have done wonderful in your job, you probably get an appraisal, but no matter what, you are still under the command of a young officer. The officer still rules, do lesser manual labour, and earn a much higher pay than a spec of the same exact qualification. So I don’t see a point in signing on as a specialist, unless you have a passion in what you would do.

What is the current technology

2007-10-08T23:28:00.000+08:00

One of the interviewers that asked me this question.

“What is the current technology now?”

How was I supposed to answer. I blurted I forgot, and she said, its ok, lets move on. Sucks.

Money makes the world go round. If I had the cash, my direction would not be what I am heading right now. Its ok, I will make it work my way.

Boost your energy

2007-10-05T00:07:00.000+08:00

iwSugar

For those who fast, taking adequate amounts of sugar is essential to energize that lifeless body of yours. That is why people use to start off their meals with a piece of date fruit. The high sugar levels significantly boost your energy levels and this might just brighten up your night. Not that fasting is not good; in fact it is a superb tool for detoxifation and many health benefits are being told(which I think is not that true) by a lot of reputable sources and websites.

Caffeine

For soon to be ORD personnel like me, I have a lot of time due to leaves/offs, and at night is the best time for relections, inspirations and all those so called craps by self satisfied people, in super layman term, already feel they are happy with what they have right now and hope in 50 years time things do not change. Ya, this is my interpretation and some may have other thoughts on this and I will respect that.

For those who wish to exercise, but feel that the nutrients that they are taking during the “break fast” is not essential, and need that extra perk, caffeine might be the way to go. Drinking coffee in its natural way, which is sipping them hot in a cup, may not be the best idea in this boosting energy technique. The best is caffeine pills, which contains about 200mg of caffeine equivalent to 7 cups of coffee.
So, the best way to go about it is to coffee powder, about 4 heaps tablespoon, in a cup of water, stir, and gulp them in one go.

Different Brands

Different brands have different taste, so some might taste a bit sour, some bitter. Its all up to you to decide. Try this, and your workouts, be it running or whatever calisthenics you do will give you an added UP.

I have a lot of thing to say, but it is you to really do the research on this, try yourself, and if anything happens to you(touch wood) don’t come and blame me. Hahah, but on the serious note, I did the experiment once and it was godsent.

Passing my 2.4KM run

2007-10-01T23:58:00.000+08:00

One of the techniques that I have used to pass 2.4KM is not just by running long distance. I have never trained long distance personally, and the furthest distance I went for my personal training is only a mere 3KM. Nearing the days where IPPT drew close, I think I ran less than 2.4KM everyday. All these trainings never, and I emphasize, never went beyond 15mins.
The key is intensity. High intensity, to me is when I run fast enough to the extent I am not able to breathe normally and my heart rate goes to about 90 percent. Then jog to about 60 percent heart rate for 20 odd seconds. I do not use a heart rate monitor, so this is only a gauge. Then I speed up the run again for 20 seconds, and after I complete my 2KM, or probably around 10mins, that would be the end.
Try this, and you will not, have excuse for not training up for IPPT, as the session is so damn short.
And just by doing this, I managed to achieve 10mins30seconds, which by all means not a fantastic timing, seriously, but if from 13 mins to this timing, to me its a wonderful personal achievement already.

:)

The guy who talked to strangers

2007-09-28T00:48:00.000+08:00

When I came back from Queensway S.S with my super best friend on a bus, I saw this Malay looking guy that sat opposite of me. Beside him was a fellow uncle with a songkok on the head and he was Indian. I could see from his stained shirt patched with tumeric yellow, he was from a food stall selling briyani rice or something. In his hand was also a pack of food that I supposed he brought from the stall to his way home.
Soon 2 females took the bus that I took and stood in front of the malay looking guy. Even though he looked Malay, he spoke Tamil. Isnt that refreshing. It is like an American speaking Chinese on this Asian country
What amazed me was how he spoke to the 2 ladies in front of him, who were total strangers, without feeling awkward or shy. He talked about the recent Crimewatch show that was shown on Channel 5 and its contents about the crimes that have been ongoing in this small country, and he spoke like they were his long time friends. The guy beside him was embarrassed at his spontaneity.
Some people can just do this kind of stuff, and they will excel in the sales industry.

Going back to camp

2007-09-25T23:58:00.000+08:00

Yay. I will be back to camp tomorrow.

Perfect

2007-09-24T02:16:00.000+08:00

I have arrived to a conclusion that the days I got pissed and mad is because I wanted things to be perfect. I wanted the guys to do things based on what they are supposed to do as soldiers and workers.

I try to enforce values like being initiative, helpful and considerate towards others and when they were not able to abide this, I get frustrated.

I give my 100 percent to my superiors and I am never late for first parade(unless something cocks up), and I dedicate my all towards serving the camp. When I do not get these behaviours from my subordinates, I get pissed. Since I am not a person who likes to report to the disciplinarian about such so called trivial matters, my head just burst. It creates tension. Maybe I expect too much, and I cannot gather the same support from everyone. I have to live with that. Either that, or I change my style of handling people.

I have to buck up in this area.

Celeron D

2007-09-22T02:39:00.000+08:00

My PC is slowing down on me nowadays. I think its getting old. This machine should not be more than 3 years and so far, no major problem has surfaced, except that it restarts itself after going into a blue screen mode for less than a second.

In the current technology, people are now using the latest models of computer processors that includes Quad Duo or Duo Quad which I myself find it confusing. That a shame for an IT person like me.

I have been using a Celeron D processor and the only face saving thing about it is that it is a Celeron D, and not just pure Celeron. I don’t think anyone would use such an old technology anyway. This is the bad thing about technology and IT; it keeps upgrading and morph itself into something better. At times I think technology wastes a lot of our money.

So far my machine has served me well. Loading of programs is okay, but using memory laden programs simultaneously are at times slow, which I think sucks for me. With a 512 RAM, what more can you expect.

Time for a change, time for a new table(the table right now is small, hopefully I could have something like in my office), time for a new job, and time for a new life.

Life, like the technology, needs upgrading, and that’s only when will you be able to survive.

The other side of Wiki

2007-09-21T21:44:00.000+08:00

An extension to Wikipedia, Wikiafterdark is more towards the mature web surfers. It focus primarily on the sexual side of information. Like its main site, users are there to edit them. I think this site has just been recently built hence the lack of content. Maybe you could contribute.
There is also categories for Teens, which I think is not suitable for the so called matured viewers. A piece of advice though, do not let kids look at it. It may seem harmless on the surface but as you navigate through the contents, there are loads of pictures that are not suitable. As a pious person, I did not look, my friend told me about it, so there goes.

On off and leave

2007-09-20T20:59:00.001+08:00

I will be clearing full day offs as of today. I will have a month’s breather and during this period I will need to assess my future and on what I am going to do. I hope this moment will give me my well deserved break. I have already burnt a few days off due to work commitment and I hope I would not be recalled back should anything crop up at camp.

I realized my SSG is breaking up during my half day leaves that I applied these few days. The camp needs a someone laojiao to reinforce back the discipline after I leave. My heart is heavy thinking of this. But sincerely I trust my upperstudy will be able to do this job, no doubt about it. At times I miss my old VISVANADAN.

People nowadays ah..haizz..relac ah..

2007-09-18T22:36:00.000+08:00

Haiya, people nowadays, do things need to relax lah. Don need to be soo kanchiong mah…haizz…

Image

2007-09-16T01:45:00.000+08:00

That Friday afternoon my newly posted boss, who is the new RSM talked to a bunch of us in the guardroom. He was trying to talk cock with us, and with his ah pek antics, it quite worked out. He was hilarious.

One topic that he spoke that entered my mind was on the whole image package. He said in this world, the image we pose in front plays a big role on our first impression and the after effects. If we packaged a building beautifully, a person may just take a glance at it, look at its wonderfully decorated designs and that may just wow him off. Even though the interior may be ugly, the onlooker may well forgive that and move on.

This applies to humans too. If you present yourself well, people would just look at you, judge you well, and they will be more forgiving towards you when you make small little blunders. If you were not dressed properly, look haggard etc, they will be more wary of you, and a little mistake they see is like a big rock on the shoulder.

This is the mistakes my guys usually make. I told them to buck up, but they said this was who they were and they will not change to impress anyone. They claim they were who they were, and boy was that a huge mistake, and subsequently, they all got eaten up for the wrong reason, which I think can be quite lame and unnecessary.

Productivity

2007-09-12T21:48:00.000+08:00

Part of effective productivity is immediate action. I have been focusing too much on action and emphasizing this to the men and myself.
It may work out well when you are just a newbie in the unit, as it is a stepping stone for you to rise up the ranks. But once you reach to that level where you do so much, but still stagnate and plateau, it is time for a change.

I need to move towards being result oriented. Yes, I can make myself do work, or ask tell the guys to do this and that, but whether the job produce quality result is another thing itself. How much work I do without quality result is basically like running 10KM everyday at the same level, if I tried to train for 2.4KM. Long distance running improves my heart, but does it make my subsequent runs faster? It is the same as sweeping the floor lightly without noticing excess small little crumbles lying on it. It looks clean but is it really clean and tidy? The action is there, but what about the results, is it concrete enough to ensure that it flows towards my goals?

THoughts

2007-09-10T20:38:00.000+08:00

I am not able to clear my leave in peace right now due to a lot of work that needs to be done. I can just handover the job to my understudy, but I don’t think the job would properly be done. He is a newbie anyway, and I have to guide him along as my ORD date draws near.

I need to be more selfish I guess. I need to let go of work and let the guy handle all my stuff. In this way, he will be able to learn on the job and he will not suffocate on the day I leave. My selfishness is his gain.

I hope the passion and pride I have towards my work continues all the way. I do not want this to be temporary; I want it to end till the day I die without any regret.

In any time that I fail in what I do, I know I am not giving my best shot. Period.

Passed Individual Proficiency Physical Test (IPPT)

2007-09-07T15:04:00.000+08:00

I took the IPPT Test yesterday and boy I was nervous. It was my first since I entered Army. I do not know if I had trained hard for it, and I knew that my frequent short distance runs and speed running would not help that much either. I knew I did not really train hard enough. My training was really below par, especially for a not so lean person like me aka heavy.

I did the test and the first station was the chin ups. My norm would be around 6, where only recently I could struggle to 9. In that nerve racking atmosphere, I would not expect myself to do better. As what I usually do, the positive affirmations that I roared inside me proved to be useful. I told myself I could do it, and in the end I did 12. I was shocked myself, and there were a few NSMEN behind me waiting to do their chin ups who gave some soft claps. I was appalled by that performance.
Lesson learnt: Positive affirmations could do wonders to your confidence and enthusiasm and state of mind

The second one was the sit-ups. I knew I could get the 5 points for this. I did not train my situps as I thought I could wheeze through this. I was totally wrong. I was struggling midway, and I nearly thought I would fail. The thought of excelling in my IPPT went into me and I pushed on. I did 38 situps, and I was thoroughly disappointed. This was the station that I thought I could excel, but I was wrong. I got 4 points for this.
Lesson learnt: Things you think are capable of doing might not be true without proper training
The third station was the Standing Broad Jump. I knew I could fail. 70 percent of my heart told me I would fail this station, or at most just pass. True enough, I got 216cm for the first try, and 221cm for the second. It was only a 2 point, which was sufficient for a IPPT Pass. I begged the conducting officer for a third try, and he was reluctant. He said if I were given the chance to have lots of tries, then everybody could have the same benefits. I told him about my goals, which was to attain a silver medal, and he said okay. The 3SG was manning the SBJ station looked pissed off, I swear I did not lie, as he kept seeing my face again and again for the tries. At first he declined to have me tested until the Conducting Officer came to intervene. I was given the chance again. This time was 189cm! There went my chance for a silver, and my best distance was taken down, which was 221cm. Just a mere 5 cm for that silver and a hundred bucks richer. My heart sank.
Lesson learnt: If you think you would fail, you would fail.

I told myself this was the first time I was doing it, and I should not push too hard. The next station was the 2.4 KM run. I was charged up as the stations I did served as a warm up to me. I thought even if I got a silver timing, it was no use, as my SBJ had fail me, but the run served a purpose. It was a personal challenge to me to overcome my personal best of 11 mins, and to see how legitimate my timings during training were. The first 100m or so was quite a breeze, but around 200m, I could feel the ache that was brought upon when I did my stations. It was aching so hard I wanted to give up. No way I could achieve 11mins. I continued running with consistent speed. About 200m before the end point I heard someone screaming at me to speed off. I supposed he was an NSMEN but he looked fit. His screams motivated me to keep up the pace. At that moment, I felt like I was going to vomit my intestines out. I wanted to stop, but it was now or never. I sped through the finishing line and the score read 10.31mins. I stopped and gasped for air. Finally, I broke my 11mins barrier. 4 points for the timing. I had passed my IPPT.
Lesson learnt: When your mind thinks it can stretch, your body follows

I saw my colleague already handing over his tag back to the counter and taking his result slip. I was about to do that when another thought struck me. Was I going to give away that silver medal just like that? I approached the Safety Officer to request for another jump and he asked me to ask the Conducting Officer. I asked him again, and this time it was a big no-no from him, but I told him again of my goal. He was nice as he sent me back to the SBJ station and told the 3SG for my 4th attempt. I told myself I was going to get the silver no matter what. I was really hyped up. I was going to do my best, and if results were to be negative, I knew I had already given my super best shot and I would be glad. With a silver in mind, I jump. My right leg was trailing my left and when I landed, my left leg was much further than the right one. I was utterly disappointed. I thought that was it, and did not even look at the score board. Then my colleague told me that I attained 225cm and I was super duper overjoyed. I jumped instantly and shook the 3SG hands even he had this yayawhatever kind of face. The challenge was over. I shouted all the way to the counter and weird faces were looking at me as I looked like I have just struck the lottery. The feeling was superb.
Lesson learnt: Do not give up

I am proud of myself and I do not care about what people think of me. I am not like many who are gifted with good genes that can easily score a silver or maybe gold without prior training. I am also not that lucky to be allocated to those chiong sua camps where they have proper physical trainings by the CSM or whatever SM there is. My job solely focus on the paper work in the office and fatigue store work. People would complain they have no time for this and that, but I found out if you manage it well, you have time for almost everything. For me, my time management is still not that good, and I would strive harder to improve this area. I know if I bucked up I would achieve much better results. People may think it is only silver, and a lot would think it was easy to achieve, but my journey to this was quite a challenging one and many sacrifices had to be made, like forcing myself to be awake when doing fatigue work and going home late and wake up really early just to have a simple training at camp. The process was demanding for me, and in the course of training I had learnt a lot of things that I would never have had, if I did not have a silver timing in mind. I would not deny that anyone in my shoes would feel accomplished and proud of themselves if their means of attaining the goals are of sheer hard work.

In a nutshell
Sit-Up: 38
Pts: 4/5

Broad Jump: 225cm
Pts: 3/5

Chin up: 12
Pts:5/5

Shuttle Run: 10.1 secs
Pts: 5/5

2.4KM Run: 10.31 mins
Pts: 4/5

Total: 21/25
Award: Silver

Long time no post

2007-08-19T17:06:00.000+08:00

It has been long since a word has been written. Weeks passed on so fast, I thought I was dreaming.

Sent weapons back

Saigang for returning weapons to ALB had ended. It was tiring, but with the whole group supporting, it was not that terrible at all. We were lucky to have our armourer going to ALB to aliase with their armourer for the returning. Without him, I think the armourers there would “eat” us up. I thought of recommending the guys a few days off to Cheng, but I am quite skeptical he would accept my idea. I do not know what he is thinking everyday, as he is always skeptical of others who are not in tuned with him.

Rush hour 3

Rush Hour 3 was super funny. I would rate this movie a 4 out of 5. Minus 1 point for the lack of oomph near the ending. Nonetheless, Chris Tucker was super funny and laughing non stop at his antics would produce vomit by the end of the show. A recommended show. After the show we went to some Arab Street area for some talk cock session. A chill out place, much better than a bar that I went. Its called Dead Bed's Bar I guess

Camp Opening Parade

ITI had opened a new camp along Jurong West St 92. It is located Jurong Camp 2. The place was superb from what I have seen, and it a top notch camp to start with. I guess SAF has loads of cash to invest money on stuff like the buggy where golf cadders would ride on moving around the turf. Service Support Group over there was also fantabulous, and explaining here would be criminal, unless you see them with your own eyes. We prepared for the Opening Parade last week, and that particular week breezing through due this. The 2nd Minister for defence was the one officiating the opening and a lot of generals were there too, so it light some significance in the event. I was involved in the parade, not in the contigents, but as a display. A bunch of us had to do some display with weapons and camouflaging our faces.

At the end of the day, one US Army personnel, who was attached to Singapore for 2 years came at the event to take a look at us. He said our stuff was superb, much better than the US. I did not know whether he said was true or just wanted to up our spirits.

The parade has changed me,f or good, and for the worst, I spent a lot of money buying food and drinks at the canteen where I would not have done so in camp.

Unfinished Business

2007-08-06T22:07:00.000+08:00

WITs
THis one has not finished yet. But I wont be presenting, its my colleague, heh.

Saigang
Hardcore saigang gonna happen tmr, Bringin back 400 m16 back to base

Take back DB personnel
I have burnt 2 saturdays fetching DB personnel from Mobray camp. Y i always kena arrow do this shit?

Food
Just realise my place has a stall selling some kickass food. Did not realise that till my friends went to my place to look for Horfun. Wao,

Capt Ardlee leaving

2007-07-31T19:59:00.000+08:00

Capt Arlee posting out
Capt Ardlee posted out to 3SIR as Officer Commanding effectively last week. It was saddening. He was one of the fun officers that we ever had, but serious when doing his job. Missing him is a great loss to the camp. No one had his character that appeal to the mass.

The outing at PS
Last Thursday his group, who makes up of the 3SG trainers went to have dinner at Fish and Co. I heard great reviews about the place, especially the fish and chips and seafood platter.

The fish and chips
When my chips arrived, it looked big and the fries were covered with some chili powder or something. I took a bite off the fish and realized it had one of the best batter I have ever tried. It was light and crispy and it the fish was steaming hot despite waiting for a few minutes for some other guests to arrive.

Overall, I did not quite enjoy the dish as it had that nausea kind of feel after you eat too much flour; that kind of feeling. It was damn oily too, so that was the turn off part. There was not much significant in this dish, and I might as well try the pasta or something on that day. Maybe its just me, or maybe it was because I ate the cookhouse food before I left for the fish.

Simpsons the Movie
After that, we watched the Simpsons. From the start it was funny and it was consistent all way through. If you like lame crappy jokes this movie is for you. Really superb to me. I was laughing all the way till the 3 quarter of the show where I got tired and dozed off. It was already 10 plus PM. The guys were laughing the hearts out. One of the guys brought along his GF who was really skinny but whom I think a chiobu.

Chill out
Soon after that, we bade goodbye to Capt Ardlee. We decided to chill out and talk cock. We searched the area for a place, it was too late. It was around 12am already.

So the guys decided to buy booze and bring them back to camp. We went around the area searching for booze and found 7-11. A few packets of Lays and Doritos were also bought.

The confrontation
When I got back, one of my men pulled me by the hand and brought me behind the guard room. Apparently there was some communication between him and his colleague and they got into a fight. Being the mediator, I explain to him and tried to stabilize the condition. He wanted me to shoo his colleague from his bunk which I duly did so, so to some reasons. It was around 3AM. It was totally hectic. He was in a total mess, and eventually he could not control his thoughts and further actions by him brought him to detention barrack the next day.

Cannot tahan
After that, we continued our talk cock sing song till around 4am and I slept in the bunk. We had a 12 KM run and when I completed it, I got super tired that I could sleep standing.

Understudy
My understudy has arrived to take over me, but even so, I will not skive. I believe he is able to do it. Time to take a chill pill and relax now.

wf

2007-07-27T20:18:00.001+08:00

wef

New food discovery

2007-07-25T22:39:00.000+08:00

Salt and vinegar potato chips from Lays is simply superb man. It just knocked off my favourite chips, which was the Sour Cream N Onion from Lays to take over as number one. A friend brought this shit this morning and I munched it in the office non stop till everything was gone in the bag.

The kaya toast from Pasir Laba also rocks my round ass too man. There were loads of butter that made the creamy taste of the dish. Even though it lacked the kaya, it punch asses.

So far, only these 2 new discovery.

OK, end of story

No time to excercise

2007-07-23T22:04:00.000+08:00

No Time to workout
People often complain they have no time to exercise. They have a lot of things to do and they give a lot of excuses. To me, this is a bunch of crap. I do not care if people wish to retort me or not, but I stand by my view.

Burpees
It takes a few minutes of your time workout. For example, you could do 10 minutes of continuous burpees. If you do not pant like a mad dog after this, then I say you are a monster. Your heart beats faster than running 2.4KM or something.

I would for this burpees any day over running. It keeps your heart pump faster and at a longer time. Of course, the burpees you do must be a correct type, not a slipshod one.

You may say you will get tired after doing this, or you will sweat and not be able to focus on the primary work. If this true, then this is also a terrible excuse.

The mind
Nothing in this world is easy, you have to put in extra effort and from there, it gets easier every time you do it. It is as simple as that. Put in extra effort in controlling the thoughts, as the mind is the important tool in controlling your actions.

End of story

The SAR21 COnversion

2007-07-21T22:27:00.000+08:00

SAR21 Conversion
We conducted the SAR21 conversion for NSMEN a few days ago. There were a few hiccups here and there, but everything got settled soon after.
Moments later there was a reservist guy that wanted to report sick. He said he did not want to shoot as he had some bad experience with weapons.

Report Sick
RSM later asked me to guide him along to the Medical Centre. We chit chatted for a while. He told me he shot his colleagues on the hand 10 years ago while playing a fool with the M16. He got Detention for 5 months while the victim got 9 months. The victim was the culprit that stole the live rounds. More surprisingly, his superiors got fined.

He said he was from Guards, but demoted to storeman after the incident. The wait cost us 2 hours. There, I met with SSG Mas. He was there to endorse the specialist letter given for his niggling back pain.

Rude MO
He said the Medical Officer(Capt) was damn rude to him. The officer lectured him like he was a little kid. As he recalled the story, I could see tears in the eyes. His downgraded as his back could not take it, not because he wanted to cheat. I knew his heart was filled with hatred. He described the Officer with normal hair, wearing specs and average height. I could easily guess who the guy was, but I will not continue to speculate.

Eating fast
After the wait, the reservist guy brought back fried rice from the canteen. He ate so fast that he finished it in seconds. I am not kidding. He ate it like slurping some deserts or something. I am not making this up. This is my first time seeing this. I asked him to chill, but he said he was used to eating like this. Up to him.

Bade goodbye
We went back and he managed to get his excuse letter. He packed his bag, and forbade me goodbye. As he left, I could a sense his sadness. The talk cock sing song session that he created in the medical centre will never leave me, as it was so crappy!!

Misc

2007-07-20T23:18:00.001+08:00

The days
Hectic days are ahead. We will prepare and clean 382 M16 to be returned to base. Luckily the trainers will be there to help, if not, we are all dead. Cleaning alone takes a huge effort, but loading them to the vehicle is criminal.

2WO Cheng
He, to me, was a fucker that fucks people whom he does not like. He fucked me bad last time too. When he sees a face that shows attitude, he fucks. He does not care about what people think of him, as long as he thinks he did his job.

He is now the standing RSM. Ever since he took over Uncle Singh, a lot of things have changed. He did a lot of fucking here and there. He wanted to make the camp more regimental than last time. He showed with his actions, and it was really obvious to the rest of us. He is more assertive and he makes his presence shown. This is one of the criteria of a good RSM. People do not like his enthusiasm, but I do.

I have men under me, and I take charge of their welfare and discipline. With him around, I feel more secured. He backs me up really well. He gave a lot of advises and it totally worked.

I used to tell the guys to group up, and instruct them to do their work. For me, it is easier to supervise. He told me a different story. He told me about delegation of work and separation of workload among the men. With this too, the men will not compare that one has done more jobs than the other. They will not be able to see one another’s jobs to compare. Work will also be done faster that way. That was his rationale. I tried, and it worked great. I appreciate his help and presence.

2WO was fierce, but he never showed me that he supported me, so I kind of lose that connection with him. It got harder to communicate and work together. Moreover I was new that time and the confidence had not set in yet. I think if he were to come back now, things would change for the better. He knows about the guys better than 2WO Cheng.

Best Soldier
I got the Best Soldier for the month after the Commander Conference days ago. I was shocked as I did not expect to get it really. I nominate people, but not the other way round. It has been this tradition all along, so it has been a pleasant surprise for me.

ORD
I will ORD soon. Before I leave, I will want to make an impression that last, just like my colleages did with his WITS project and won that 10K. Hopefully, I can get an “Excellent” for my Certificate Of Service.

New RSM

2007-07-12T21:09:00.000+08:00

A new RSM will be coming to camp soon, and I hope it would be for the better, at least better than last time. 2WO Cheng nowadays is quite on the ball, and seeing me on the ball, he ups his enthusiasm, which is really good.

No one in camp thought I could deal with the stubborn guys, but the lion is coming out. I want my platoon to be the same as it was years ago, which is full of discipline and regimental. I am going to make full use of the months that I have left to change the system.

There are many secrets told to me by the men, and some of them were really unexpected. They complained to me loads of stuff and I told them when they get out to work, they would face similar challenges, and the only difference is that you could quit if you don’t like it, unlike in the army.

Anyway, hardcore saigang is over, and its time to suffer to return M16 to base.

Hardcore Sai Gang

2007-07-04T22:04:00.000+08:00

These few days we had some really hardcore Sai Gang. It can be said as training, training of the physical and mental aspect, whether we will fall out or push yourself to better fitness. The word saigang has a lot of different view from people.

Some may see it as a waste of time, well others, they see it as a waste of energy and nothing better to do.

For me, it is a test of physical fitness. Let me elaborate on what I and the rest of the guys did these last 2 days

Loading/unloading massive amount of tentages and poles and t joint
You work many parts of your muscles including biceps and the wings area. This is crucial for chinups if you do them with you palms facing you like what I am doing. It works on the abs and is a great workout for a healthy heart

Filling in 100 sandbags
Again the biceps will be pumped up, followed by the wings and the back. These muscles will grow and grow and before you knew it you will develop a Sexy Back like Justin Timberlake. If you do it consistently non stop, it is a superb cardio workout and stamina building, no joke

Pushing the trolleys with 15 sandbags and huge amount tentage poles on a trolley
Concentration will be balancing the heavy items and not to let them fall off the trolleys. Requires great deal of concentration and massive bicep and triceps effort followed by the contraction of the abs.

Loading 100 sandbags from the ground to the tonner
Superb exercise for the shoulder, especially is you want to have that rounded shape on the shoulder of yours. You try doing half of that amount and tell me if you can cope. I think you can but it takes tremendous amount of energy. It works on the wings and the back. A superb cardio workout if you ask me.

Taking 2 sandbags and bring them up Elephant hill for 2 sets
Superb heart workout plus and massive massive cardio and fat burning exercise. My first time doing it and I tell you, this is one of the best workouts for power, strength and fat loss. Try it and you will thank me for the tip. Many of them just could not take it anymore, including myself, but I pushed and pushed and luckily my shit did not come out from the ass. I wanted to go for the 3rd round, but I need to maintain the energy, as there will be Matador Conversion tomorrow

Doing chin ups on the tree and the back of the tonner while waiting for further instruction
You know what this works on. Improves chinups.

So, its all up to your mentality to slack or not.

So how can you not lose weight doing stores?
Not, if you have the diet of mine:

Meal 1: Peanut butter sandwich
Meal 2: Fried rice with fried wings and sambal fishball
Meal 3: Rice with curry chicken and some vegetables and fried fish
Meal 4: Rice with chicken soup

The next day:
Meal 1: Porridge with deep fried salmon patty
Meal 2: Tea with 8 lemon cream biscuits
Meal 3: Rice with hotdogs and fried chicken
Meal 4: Rice with curry chicken, tofu, vegetables and cuttlefish balls
Meal 5: Rice with half black pepper chicken

I tell you, how to lose? Luckily I am doing this once in a blue moon. Take care of the health while you can.

OK, end of story

The 7KM run

2007-06-29T20:46:00.001+08:00

We had the 7KM run. We were supposed to run 12KM today, but one of the runners got dizzy and stuff as he did not take his dinner the day before, so by 7KM, the run was stopped. I was anticipating greater achievements but had to stop prematurely.

2LT Ben will be leaving Singapore today, and he will be missed sorely by me. To me, he was one of the best officers around and also in terms of character and personaliy.

Running up the slope was the killer for me, and my knees got ached really bad after the second time running up the slope. These types of distant runnings really kills the joints and you often see old warrant officer having bandages and wraps on their knees and whatever.

Seriously, distance running increased my stamina and leg endurance. The bad part of it is that it makes you hungry that I ate 3 straight meals without feeling a sense of fullness and satisfaction. You keep on eating till it becomes a habit and that sucks.

12KM run

2007-06-26T20:18:00.001+08:00

This morning we had the 10KM run in preparation for the Army Half Marathon. It was quite easy for the 1/3 of the distance, but as I went on for the 2/3, the legs were aching. My breathing was normal, but I felt I wanted to fall as the legs were weak. In all, I finished at a timing of 1 hour.
That is okay to pass the timing for the 21KM run, which is 2hr 45mins. After the run I felt really hungry and kept eating and snacking, and even after the gobble, I still felt hungry! That was really bad.
If you need to improve your legs endurance for your 2.4KM IPPT run, it would be better to do sprints than jogging long distance.
If you need to lose fat, it would be better to sprint than to slow jog which I did just now.
Damn shagged

End of story

Best Guard

2007-06-17T14:29:00.001+08:00

I did guard on Saturday. As usual, I expect a boring day ahead without a 3SG as the guard comm. He enjoyed himself while I read the papers. I was there also to take over the bunks the NCC kids had used.

I briefed to his storemen on what to do, and he obliged. He was a China man, and he seemed hardworking. I could not understand him at first with his unusual intensed china pronounciation, but time proved it wrong. Everything went well, but one 3SG lost a key, and as desperate as can be, they search for it.

I was drinking some water from the cookhouse when the water splashed onto a few NCC girls. They shrieked like a cockroach had landed on the blouse, and I apologized. I think they thought I was doing it on purpose.

Throughout my duty, I was in the office, and that 1SG was doing for me all the while. I slept at 9pm, and woke up at 6am, only to see him sprawling on the guardroom chairs sleeping heavily.

I apologized to him, and took over his duty at 6am.

So far, he is the best duty personnel I have worked with, apart from the 3SG from China.

The aunties in red

2007-06-15T16:44:00.000+08:00

I was on off today and had my morning 2.6KM run near the canal. The air was fresh and I saw a few middle aged ladies working out. It was some sort of a workout program done by a community centre and all of them wore red.

It was led by Malay aunties and there were a handful of Chinese as well. I thought it was spearheaded by a well versed bilingual Malay, but it was done through sound recording on a radio. “Put your hands in the air” the radio screamed in Malay, and everyone followed. I thought it was damn funny and lame, but kudos to the middle aged group, for their participation and leading towards a healthy lifestyle.

My chinups has improved, and right now I am able to do 8. I am proud of myself, but I do not understand where the energy and strength came from. God knows, and I wish this will be a consistent result for me. I know the flabs and excess fat does not help.

I just need to improve on my standing broad jump, and I am on my way to an extra hundred bucks.

Watch your words

2007-06-14T22:15:00.001+08:00

Some people have simply vicious tongues. They like to lash out words that can be hurtful. It does not matter if you are serious or not, but the fact you are hurting someone really sucks.
Part of the lesson that I have learnt in this camp is to take people’s feelings into consideration. You cannot just whack the guy or try to joke with his personal life or sickness or whatever it is even though you mean it as a joke.

People often complain to me about the superiors poking fun at them, whether it was their sickness or anything personal. When I heard it, I just flared, and felt like telling the person off. I always feel that a person character is made of the teachings of the parents.

That person’s parents I thought did not bring up a value whereby sensitivity should be brought everywhere we go. The person is not sensitive, and before I ORD, I have to write an email to all users including this person, to wake up the idea and be more sensitive.

Not all people are made up of the same character as you, so you don’t expect them to behave or react like you, get that in mind and change.

Any personnel that reports to me about such matter will get it from me, I am not kidding. I am especially sympathetic towards the men, especially if you have some disability and stuff or some kind of problem

I see many specs aka 3SG talking to men like they are really superb and big shot, even though they don’t mean what they express. Wake up the idea now before men have different mentality on specs. Call them by the name, not by the vocation and no “Eh”, as it’s as though the parents did not give them a name, really.

If those clerks or storemen or whoever complains to me about some insensitivity issues again, I will confirm whack that guy.

I think I am quite lucky to be in this camp. A lot of things have been learnt, and dealing with all sorts of crappy people, including carry and licking superiors’ balls to survive in this man eat man world.

NCC has arrived!

2007-06-13T20:45:00.000+08:00

NCC arrived today. It was not as impressive as the previous one, as the cadet lieutenents lacked the female version. There were few females and it sucked. Loads of little kids running here and there and listening to instruction given by the cadet lieutenents. Majority looked like they were 14 or 15.

I saw the cadet lieutenents who hail from JCs and Polys scolded the NCC boys like how the BMT 3SGs scold the recruits. It was a funny sight. Unfortunately for some of the cadet lieutenents, their skills would not be put to use if they went to PES C BMT or or end up as men, but it does not matter, what matters is that they went through this experience. HEH

Had been playing soccer these few days, and today I was really fatigue, I was not sure why. The runs had been really poor and my energy levels took a downhill slide.

After so many rerpimands and scoldings given to the guys, they are still quite stubborn. Its taking a toll on my mental clarity. I think it is time for me to let go of all these crap and focus on other things in life, seriously. I have no other option but to move on as I see that no disciplinary action has been taken upon these guys when I complained to higher management.

My cubicle is in total mess, and it looks like a horse stable, all thanks to the “wise” old man, Ah Cheng ah. I do not know what to say, as I have given 101 percent welfare to the guys, fought for them, but no one ever fought for me. They see me as a good worker, but at times good workers need to be commended to feel appreciated. I am given so much priveledges, but there is something that is missing that I need to find out.

I helped the new messing supervisor with 100 percent of my effort in cleaning his stores. Ever since he took over, messing is in superb condition, and I appreciate his enthusiasm. So far I have not have any conflicts with him, and I will do what I do best, which is giving 100 percent, especially to those who deserve it.

I just realized that drinking plain water loads help in providing energy. The fatigue was quite hard to set in as I was constantly drinking massive litres of water. The rest of the guys who dilly dally here and there, and delayed the whole operation of moving stores simply sucks. Maybe they have different mentality as me, but I simply think its bad.

Bad and good

2007-06-12T21:26:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was totally equipped. I went to see my upperstudy and we talked cock sing song till night time before I had to leave before I get scolded by mommy. The miso chicken we had at KFC tasted the same as the normal crispy ones, and the only good thing we gained was the cheaper price. Before that I had 2 plate of Mee Goreng with fried chickens

I went to VIVO with a good buddy of mine to search some Bluetooth thing. The place sucks, as it was damn big, and we got confused and lost on some occasion. I had a total binge that day, where I had Ban Mian with BK Grilled Chicken. Absolutely superb, filled the tummy to the core.

There will be some changes to the camp structure, and that will mean more crazy stuff that me and the guys would dread. Though dreadful, I will looking forward to this challenge and see how far I can go before I ORD! Changes sucks but you gotta go thru it!

Sucky Show and Sucky food

2007-06-04T21:04:00.000+08:00

I went to the PC show with my best buddy that Friday. Once there, it was really crowded and basically the assess can be rubbed with others, so that was how bad it was. Like the previous PC show, it was the same and boring. There was nothing fantastic on the pricetag, as you can get most of the discounts elsewhere. There was a lack of models too, and the little girls trying to be model-promoters just could not make it. In the end, we bought nothing, and I thought that was a waste of time

We had dinner at Secret Recipe. I seldom bring anything down, unless it is so bad beyond imagination, and the name that comes to my mind right now is Secret Recipe restaurant. There were an array of dishes shown to be ordered, and I tried the kebab, while the friend tried the chicken chop with barbeque sauce. With its hefty price tag the food is not justifiable.

The kebabs tasted normal, and most of the tasted was garlicky and it did not bring back fond memories of the food item at all. The rice provided was brown, where you would get when you scrape at the side of the rice cooker pot. I am not kidding, but it was really that bad, the rice was really a letdown. The accompanied salad with little dressing also put it down.

With each meal costing 11 bucks, we could go somewhere else and have better food

Sad Hour

2007-05-31T23:34:00.000+08:00

It was supposed to be a Happy Hour day yesterday, and I was looking forward to it where most of the staff would be around. I was all pumped up and helping the mess committee with the preparation.

Soon after, a few personnel from ADF arrived to collect 50 paintballs. Seems easy, but when we loaned them the items, they asked a lot of question pertaining to the weapons and asked for a demonstration on handling them.

It took about 2 hours to complete the deal, and by then the happy hour had already end. That was saddening. I was appalled at my superior’s attitude, who is only a 1st Sergent who carried on with the happy hour, leaving his subordinates like me and the armskoteman and and my colleague to deal with the business.

Even my 2LT officer was there to help, and I really appreciate his help, and I think his gesture was really sweet.

In the end, there was no more food left, and we went to PLC for the canteen foodies.
It was quite tiring, and by the end of the day I was shagged. We dealed with the NCC guys where they came for accommodation and the weapons.

There were quite a number of Cadet Lieutenants, but seemingly they are all from tertiary education, their faces looked like they were from Sec Sch.

My colleague tried to play a prank on them, he tried to play the big-fuck-army-guy-and-NCC-cannot-match-with-us game. He told off a few Cadet LTAs for some mistakes, and as meek as can be, they heeded his instructions as if my colleague was some big fuck. That was really funny man.

OK, end of story, time to go for PC show tomorrow.

Everything I do, Ill do it for you

2007-05-29T21:36:00.000+08:00

One of my guys told me, he was fed up with camp already with dick sucking personnels getting the credit and using their rank to control others.

I told them already, it works that way, and if they do not do this kind of thing, their primary role would not be completed.

They never understand. It is really hard to get into their thinking, as most of them have problems outside the camp.

One of the notorious ones told me straight to my face that whatever he did, he will do it purely because of me, and no one else. He would do it just because of me, and no one else. Amazing.
Hmm, I dont know what I did but the unworthwhile painstaking job that I do everyday and the constant persuasion that I lash out to them appears so called sincere. Wah, I did not even thought of that.

But I am moved. At least the effort that I put in upping their spirits did not go to waste. But I do not know whether its worth it.

Thanks.

End of story

Negative visualisation

2007-05-27T18:33:00.000+08:00

People all get stressed up. Why do they experience that? It all boils down to visualization. They visualize that the next day will be bad. The sequence of event that they imagine is totally negative. When the work gets cock up, they again visualize that the boss was going to scold them, or maybe the customers or their work might go against them.

Once you remove the negative visualization, your wellbeing becomes healthy and even if the next day ends up in a total mess, at least, you had a smooth and relaxing day the day before. But usually your negative visualization that you churn in your head seldom come true. Usually it would not be worst than you have imagine, really.

With that in mind, practice positive visualization, and live a relaxing healthy life.

Thanks.

End of speech.

Sent someone to DB

2007-05-25T20:28:00.000+08:00

2 days ago I sent one of my guys to DB for AWOL. I was the guard IC as s 3SG at least is needed to escort the guy. I was quite nervous as I did not what to expect. Chief clerk many of the paper work.

After locking up his hand, we brought the guy to the medical centre to examine his fitness, whether he was sick or not. People were looking at him, strangely as I suppose they have never seen a person get locked up in the hands before, or they were just wondering what offence he had done. Together with me was my colleague and an RP.

After the medical, we proceeded to Mobray Camp to refer him to the Mps. He was taken away.
Before the ordeal, he spoke to me. He thanked me for the help that I did for him during his terrible days. Tears welled in his eyes.

Deep in these offenders' heart, there is still goodness in them which many fail to see. Circumstances might lead them to the bad ways they are leading.

OK. End of story.

Preparing for NCC next week which I think we are really behind time

Tip 1: Avoid Interviewers

2007-05-21T21:58:00.000+08:00

Ever going to MRT stations, bus interchange, and ladies and men all over the place with notepads on their arms looking for victims to interview? If this is common to you, there is a simple solution

1. Look really fed up and pissed off with life kind of expression

2. Frown

3. Put a straight face

Confirm plus chop, no interviewers will come and approach you. No need to think much, just do it.

Thanks
End of story.

End of parade

2007-05-20T12:10:00.000+08:00

Tuesday was the end of the parade. BG Winston looked like some fatherly figure with his ridiculous buldging tummy. He was a guardsman, but his features now says otherwise. Probably he is now 40++, and that is the most likely reason.

The not-that-intensed training that we had on Monday made us well prepared for the goodbye parade. The rehearsals were brief throughout. When the day finally arrived, we felt the pain and the tension in our toes. The BG's speech was damn long and boring, and he paid tributed to officials that many would not be able to recognise, so that was the downfall.

We were really lucky that the incoming Chief Infantry Officer, some Colonel who replaced the BG did not make any speech, if not the sufferings would have lengthen.

According to my unit's Commander, he refered the BG as a down to earth person and think more of the ground people. That was pleasing, and he has this pleasing kind of look.
At the end of the day, he bade farewelll to all of us involved and proceed to enjoy his fruits of retirement.

Just as I thought that there would be rest after parade, there was more shit to come for the next few days of the week. It was pure shit of original purity and the way the system works really shits me in the pants. I have been thinking, this is not worth it. Time for me to move on to greener pastures and time to take advantage of SAF free medical and dental care.

Time to forget SAF and focus on other precious things in life.

End of story.

Change of Command Parade

2007-05-14T20:04:00.000+08:00

Today's event was Change of Command Parade. I was to stay in camp yesterday. The feeling was awful. I did not want to part from the comfort of the house. But I had to somehow.

We woke around 5 am to get prepared to draw the weapons for the parade. I did so too, and by around 6 we moved off to Selarang Camp.

Over there, it was fun. I did not expect that. I thought it would be boring and monotonous, but it turned out good. There were loads of cock talking which I have not done in a while at camp. This is due to a lot of thought being generated. Like how to handle the guys and welfare and such.
For the first time in my Army life I felt I did not mind doing parades till I ORD. It is sure better than camp where you get loads of shit thrown at you.

Thinking twice, would all these tiring parades help you in your wellbeing? The answer is no, so camp is the place that I should stay and work on.

End of story.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-10T09:05:00.000+08:00

Spiderman 3 to me was a an action packed show albeit its length. I thought it was more than 2 hours and many a times when I was about to get restless and ready to get up, it filled me up with action packed activities and kept me glued to the screen. That was how effective the show was.

Of all 3 Spiderman shows that I have watched, this one is by far the best ever. It was full of action throughout, there were a lot of moral of the stories kind of storyline and best of all, there was humour.

The only downside of it was that it introduced a lot of villains in a movie. It would do better if they could have lesser of the characters and build an exceptional storyline based on them, rather than have a dispersed and unconvincing characters.

We were about to go home after a movie when one of the guard personnels who was supposed to do his duty on Saturday reported to me that he would be on MC for that day. And I was supposed to be his standby.

I sucked thumb and did his duty. That was such a disappointment end to my happy ending.

My AWOLee called me

2007-05-03T23:45:00.000+08:00

Wao, this is amazing. Tonight I was thinking about one of my guys that had been AWOL, and I had thoughts of asking him to surrender. Moments later he messaged me on how he could surrender himself! This is totally absurd! Coincidence.

Im not sure what I will do, but I will tell my superior tomorrow on a wonderful Friday, where my unit will be going to watch a movie, and its called Spiderman 3.

COOL?

cool..

Focus

2007-05-01T16:14:00.000+08:00

Wah, i did not realise I have forgotten about writing. It has been days since I wrote. I had been quite busy with camp and the entrance of the warrant officer from the Special Forces into the wing has brought more inspiration and passion to my exercise regime.
Even though he is in his mid forties, he trains like a fit teen and that is what wows me. He is the second Special Forces personnel that I have seen with muscular body.

Last Friday the camp had our lunch at Sakura Buffet. It cost 20 bucks for a liunch buffet and is paid for by the camp. Over there, we were elated with the array of dishes being presented. The main concept over there was Japanese dishes, while western and live-cooked dishes were also available.

I thought I started slow, and I took the stuff that I seldom, or never eat before, one by one, but in the end I was gutted. Foods like siew mais and Baos were some of the Chinese dishes that I consumed. I tried the weird Unagi and some thin fish where they BBQ them and are eaten whole with the bones. It was certainly an experience. By leaving the common ones behind and eating the odd ones, I missed those that are supposed to be nice like the lamb and beef chops. Sushis were great and so were the scallops.

Overall, for 20 bucks it was quite worth it, although the dishes could be better and more unique. Even though I did not try everything, I think it could serve more variety, but at 20 bucks, what can you say.

Focus

I realised that throughout my stay in my current unit, staying focus in what you do is a must. Do not get swayed by the people around you asking you to chill out for a while and have a coffee or two, while you talk loads of thrash. It simply is not worth it. Focus has to be maintained and the momentum that keeps you going. While you lose your focus, you lose momentum as well, and it is damn hard to carry on with what you are doing. When you lose focus, your concentration gets affected and that is where you lose your productivity. It will never get 100 percent, serious.
Time to lose all chit chats and small talks and start planning.

Working passionately

2007-04-20T18:30:00.000+08:00

This week I was quite motivated. I had doing my chores with a lot of passion and enthusiasm. The key to working passionately is to have goals and anticipating the results with relish when you have completed it. Feel the work that you are doing, and do them with pride. Focus on them and leave any thoughts that might have lingered in your mind.
Be responsible with whatever tasks that you are given, and only then you could them well
I have never regret going to this camp. And I never regret getting into logistics. Its a blessing in disguise.
The Logistics creed “We Serve With Passion”

Back from sick

2007-04-14T18:17:00.000+08:00

I was not feeling good the last few days. I was given MC by the medical officer who told me to rest at home. The officer was an angmoh, and freckles were all over his body. He looked quite dashing with that pan pacific look. He was the only one wearing NO4 uniform while the rest were wearing the NO3. He had an IPPT gold badge and a marksmen badge. Looks cool for a medical officer.

Yesterday was happy hour day. We had loads of foods and the food for the day was laksa. It was quite creamy and it packed a punch. That was one quality laksa, not ones that you find at 2 dollar shops. The overall foods were a let down. As usual, they were all foods that are based towards the chinese cuisines. For example Chicken fried rice, some stire fried beancurd/vege and stuff like that. Maybe they could change it to other flavours next time.

Went to see Major Dan to talk about some weaponries. He asked me after the talk when I would ORD, and I replied October. He said he would miss me as to him, I was a good. Wth, I did not even once create an impression that I was some damn good soldier or anything like that. Anyway, it was still quite pleasing coming from a high ranker.

Broke 2.4KM barrier

2007-04-07T23:37:00.000+08:00

I did guard duty yesterday. It was a 24 hour schedule. My duty was supposed to start at 12 am, and I rested at 10pm. I got to sleep and I woke up at 7 am this morning. I asked the guy why he did not wake me up and let me take over him, and he said it was not nice waking people up when they are deep in sleep. Oh man, I am guilty of many occasions like this. Anyway, I thank that dude, seriously.

I broke my 11:10 mins barrier by getting 11:00 mins flat for my 2.4KM run. It was a superb achievement. I ran as fast as I could, and by the last 200m, I was already getting ready to give up. I felt that my body was going to burst and shit felt like it was going to spurt out any time soon. In the end, I completed it and I was not really that exhausting.

My training has been good, and there are many factors that accounted for my record breaking feat, which I will talk about some time later.

Failed ATP..zz

2007-04-04T20:15:00.000+08:00

I failed ATP aka Live Firing. I had to reshoot and reshoot till everyone recognised me as the BOBO shooter. Some even say even my men could be marksmen, but I failed, and they said this is utter embarrassment.
I still remember during the night shoot I could not see a shit that I shot at the ground twice. The safety officer was taken aback and told me to fuck spider. I was given personal training by some warrant but still could not shoot and pass.
It was a damn tiring day yesterday. I am breaking my back.

Self Discipline and time wasting

2007-04-01T21:41:00.000+08:00

I used to waste a lot of time after first parade chit chatting with either the trainers or my guys. It is fun, no doubt about that, but I realised that my productivity lessens after each conversation. One conversation leads to another and in the end, time is lost. For the past week I decided to get self discipline to work for me. Chit chatting seemed tempting, but I carried on with my work regardless of people calling me to sit down for a cuppa or whatever it was. Soon I realised I did more things and time was with me all the way. If only I was able to work alone, I think many things can be done in one day. Too bad I have to have my guys working with me, and instructing them may at times takes away precious seconds and minutes.

Frustrations

2007-03-29T20:03:00.000+08:00

I always feel frustrated when my guys dont do work that I have tasked them to do. It's not about whether they have to listen to me or my rank is a bit higher therefore you low-rankers should follow my demands. If I could, I would even throw my rank and be one of them. I told them that straight in their faces. It's much safer and less taxing to the mind and body. I would just need to follow instructions and after that, there wont be anything else to think about. All the possible shits would be junked to the superior and he would receive the blame.

I see people do their tasks while others skive, and is it fair to the hardworking people? Certainly not. It breaks my heart seeing this kind of things. When reprimands do not work, that is where punishment comes about and unleash it fear. This is why punishment exists. Just for stubborn people.

From this point of view and experience, I understand why some superiors love arrowing their men to do stuff that no one likes to do. It is because, this particular superior has been arrowed by his superior to perform such task, and if he were the one doing most of it, probably he would not complete his primary tasks in the organization. Right now I fully understood. Normally when people complain to me about such incident, I know what is happening. There are some superiors who skive, and this kind of people should be damned, and not be understood.

Wedding On Sunday

2007-03-27T20:01:00.000+08:00

At times when you feel you are not able to do your work as you feel down, feel bored or whatever not, self discipline comes to play. With self discipline, you will carry on with your work despite the abnormal feelings that you may have. You may feel it was not a good day for you, but that does not mean you abandon your work. People may understand when you complain that you are not able to work due to the feelings that you experience, but I think it is your responsibility to control what you are doing and not let these negative feelings affect you. In life sometimes, its the attitude that people will take notice of, not whether you feel bad or whatnots.

On Sunday I went to one of my best buddies wedding in Bedok. I hardly saw him as he was preparing to change into his wedding clothings Many of my course mates had arrived when i reached there. It was a pleasant meeting since we had not met ever since last year. Most of them looked the same as they were a year back.

When the bride and groom arrived, they looked fantastic with their western bridal suits. I cant believe that a friend of mine, whom I played and joke around with has already tied the knot. He is only 23 this year. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

Being good doesnt really do you good

2007-03-22T20:26:00.000+08:00

This morning I was told by some superior that all my guys had to do manual labour aka saigang to prepare for Div Comd visit to our camp in a few weeks time. Our commander by the way is non other than the big friendly chap, BG Winston Toh. Even though he would arrive camp not really soon, my Major was already starting to feel the butterflies in his tummy. He wanted us to clean and prepare the bunks and also touch up on our distinct showcase of achievement that was done by my previous understudies. They are all not cock up people I must say, almost 80 percent have proceeded to university and excelling life like how they excelled at camp last time.
Their imaginative ideas and hardwork has proven that these are some of the qualities that provides ones' success in life.

Their ideas and implementation have got up to MIDEF level, and presentations have been done to the Chief Of Army. That is absolutely superb.
The work we did was quite tiring considering that we had very few people right now. Those that have ORD had not been replaced and this raised a major concern for the supply side.
Doing work as a group is definitely fun and enjoyable. The spirit is there and sign of cohesion therein exist. There were a few bad apples that lazed around and needed to be reprimanded before they did their work. Some people just have to be treated in this non gentle manner so they could wake up their lame ideas and ranks are given for a particular responsibility towards an individual.

I promised them that if we could finish early, I would let them book out of camp really early and that really upped their spirits. Eventually they finished by about noon and their hardwork really paid off.

I was also really pissed just now when I tried to ask him to do some manual labour and he asked me why I treated him like a dog. I could not stand it and just stared into his eyes. I asked him why I was given the attitude, but he just asked to let him go to do the jobs that have been instructed by me. When he came back, he told me he was stressed on certain matters of his personal life.

It was then book out time. It was really early. By then Moh was at the gate. He was supposed to go to some unit to extend a loan for a few weapons. He saw some of the guys that went home and he confronted me on the phone. The way he spoke to me was as if I did him loads of wrongs and sins. It would be okay if he did that to some of the stubborn guys, but of all people he did that to me. I was a bit pissed of course. I could counter him with a lot of reasons but with due respect to his rank i thought I would just let it rest.

But he continued to tell the Chief Trainer about it. He really intended to blow this matter up. I personally think he has a few mental issues that need to be reviewed, seriously. I really think why he did that was because he needed assurance that his actions were correct and safe. But by doing that, he did not notice the consequences that will fall upon me. He just needs some assurance. And this kind of people are those that will fcuk the people he sees that he could fcuk, and let go of those that he is afraid of.

Such people exist, and it will only be a pain in the ass to pursue this matter. If he does blow this thing up, no worries, my guys will support me and I have a few things under the sleeve to counter him back.

Lucky I did not go back to camp!

2007-03-20T18:29:00.000+08:00

I am really glad I went to the polyclinic for the doctor. I guess if I had gone to camp despite the fever I would have had to pay a more severe price.
I knew I could go to camp and do my stuff. I would try my best not to do heavy strenuous work, but being me, I would not have heeded my physical state. My body showed I could not exceed a certain limit of my physical capability but I will try my very best to overcome this limit. At times this is really stupid, and what could be worst than to be hit with a knockout that would prevent you from recovering.

I was contemplating really hard to go back to camp, as my belongings in my office are not properly kept under lock and keys. I bet those uncouth wretches who take advantage of such an opportunity to steal would be raring to have a bite at my items. I was a bit afraid.
The throat infection was really irritating. I could not swallow or just to basically slurp us any lquids in the mouth. It was a pain to do all these. My mom's spicy food did not help either. So I ended up eating bread with some spreads that are available in the kitchen. Luckily the lack of appetite curbed me from the devillish foods. The throat infection was thorns in my mouth. Everything I tried to swallow something, its feels like small tiny thorns are there to stab the little tonsil.

It has been a great week for me. It has acted as a a recuperation week from all the rubbish in camp and to be away from my responsibilities for the time being. Actually it feels kind of great not to be always called up by superiors for something they are not rank-capable with, like saigang, where the lower rank people always do.
It will be a superb working day for me tomorrow and I reckon it will be wonderful for the rest of my entire army life. No joke about it.
We are the ones that decide whether to make it a perfect day or otherwise a horrendous one.

Watching Borat with the little ones

2007-03-18T18:31:00.000+08:00

Watched Borat the 2nd time yesterday. It was super crude and senselessly funny, and watching with my 2 young cousins was a havoc.
I let my little cousins watch the part where this guy teaches Borat about jokes in America. One of them was the “Not” joke. They start with a regular statement and they end the statement with a “NOT!”

Another one was the part where he asked for directions to California. He met some negros and asked them to teach him a sentence or two on the Nigger way of speaking.

After showing these scenes, my cousins laughed till their hearts went out. Their parents were frowning at me for showing such explicit show to an 8 and 10 year old boys. All the way they laughed and when they got out of my house to go home they continued laughing.

“Yo wassup vanilla face, you got a place to lay my black asses here? Only pimps, no whores”
ROFL

Fever on Guard duty

2007-03-16T18:24:00.000+08:00

I appreciate the good deed done by FanFan. Basically he did my duty for the whole night while I slept in the guardroom. I had a bout of fever, and luckily for me, Fan was there to replace my detail.

I woke up at 2 am, but I shivered like mad, and I knew I could not continue from there. Even though I lied down on the bed, I shivered from the aircon cold aired room.
Soon in was 8 AM, and the duty ended there. Fan looked the same. He did not look sleepy.

Fever

2007-03-15T16:18:00.000+08:00

I am having fever as I write this entry. I watched 300 yesterday with a good friend and the show was enchanting. All the way my eyes were glued to the screen,and expecting more. The men have superb body definition, and I dont think that was a correct portrayal of the people in that olden days. All of them had abs so defined that it looked kind of rediculous. Anyway the the show got an M18 rating was because of some naked ladies' existence in the picture, but more than that, nothing else. The fight scene was not that eerie or whatever, but according to the ratings, it is due to the violence that it got an M18, which I disagree

I just found out Eugene stole my pen, and when I cofronted him, he smied wryly and said he confiscated it. It was so disgusting, that smile.

He owed Ib 30 bucks and the way he tried to deny was so dramatic.

My says

2007-03-11T16:18:00.000+08:00

Went to watch A pursuit of happyness with Ib last week. We watched the 930pm show. It was quite late already, and I thought it would end at around 11pm plus. I was wrong, it ended about 2335 and luckily enough, the last MRT train was still available.

Last weeks' guard duty has been hectic. I think I did about 3 guard duties. The feeling was painful, but I just had to go through this. After the last day of duty, it was heaven and i could spend the weekend in peace. The guy ordered 3 MCD meals, and for a scrawny guy like him, he does eat loads..and its junk food he is eating

The food at JP basically suck ass to say the frank. The TOM yam ban mian was supposed to be sour with taste of spices, but he added the lime to much and it overcame the thai flavour of the soup. It was devillishly hot that I could not take it anymore but cry. I can stand hot stuff, but this kind of spiciness really killed the tastebud.

SISPEC's new stall provided Mee Soto for a meal. It was cheap. It cost around 1.50 and i bought a set. It sucks ass real bad too that I wanted to ask the uncle to close down than to provide this kind of food. Maybe it would be okay if he did not add a dash of that sweet soya sauce to the dish that it made it look like he added sugar to it. Serious.

Back from Duty

2007-03-01T00:24:00.000+08:00

I was doing duty with Lang, a hokkien peng dude. Had a good laugh and many secrets were revealed. Did not know one of the trainers who got posted there was from SOF. He is 44, and his 2.4 is abt 9 mins. SUper cool, I am so inspired. I hope i can trainwith him, like how he trains some of his homies. He is also damn humble. He did not put any of his achievement badges on.

This week we are supposed to go for the chalet for some presentation. Its at Changi. I am lucky I escape it all with my duties and stuff. If notI would have to go there, such a long long way.

I just realised ayam brand Tuna in curry is nice to be eaten with bread or rice. The creamy savoury taste complements the bland rice/bread. The sourness is there and just at the right amount. Thx to Ter who bought it for me.

Did armsnkote just now. It was quite tiring even though the weapons taken out for inspection were a few. So right nowI know how my armskotemen must have felt during these quarterly weapon inspection.

In what you do, just be persistent, even though its tough, once you pass that barrier, it gets easy and thats when you gain improvement

Time Wasting

2007-02-24T10:10:00.000+08:00

We were all supposed to come back to camp for to do work in preparation for the Logistics Readiness Inspection, now know as the Logistics Audit Branch. Most of my guys had to attend a career talk held at Maju camp, so very few of them came.
I t was a totally slack day. I slacked too, and got lethargic after going to SIW to collect the subcalibres rounds.

This was one of the most unfruitful days for me and the gang. My obedient armskoteguys managed to clean some weapons and they got to go back home early. I am a reward kind of person. I don do punishments unless it is really severe.

To me, reward is the best motivational tool exists. Punishments help, but it hurts deep inside, and I am an NSF anyway! I feel a sense of satisfaction in rewarding them, but reprimanding them when they do mistakes is also a must to let them know their attitude should be in the correct frameset. I admit this thinking is bad, and I need to change this. On second thought, why do punishment exists

1SG Eug went to ITI to meet someone. I don know what he does everyday in front of that computer screen. He does a lot of work, who knows, but it really seems that he just trying act busy. I cannot blame people for saying these things as he really gives this impression
I hear many cock up attitude of regulars who make use of their subordinates from my friends, so I guess my experience now sort of agree with what they said. I tried not to be biased, but its really hard.

Gossips work in a really terrible way. I see many people gossip about this 1SG of mine. The words spread like bushfire and from there it destroyed his image as a normal government worker. People who do not associate with him also start to gossip about his errs based on what was being told by gossipers. They have no contact with this superior of mine, but they gossip like they had since he was posted in.

I don really fancy him, but I also don fancy anyone gossip about him IF he/she has no first hand experience with his attitude. So shut the hell up. Instead of gossip, why not make the person have a personal experience with him so he can come to his own conclusion whether he is a bad person or not.

Btw I just earn 80 bucks helping a friend buy 2 pairs of shoes from the Emart. I paid using my SAF credits while he gave me cash.

New Update

2007-02-20T23:17:00.000+08:00

first post in few weeks. Thats a lot of weeks. My timing for 2.4KM has improved. 11.10 mins. Training hard to get below 11. All my trainings has paid dividends. Note that I dont have any coach or anything like that. My previous timing more than a month ago was about 13 mins. So its a great impovement for me. With grit, dedication and education, you will get where you want to be, even it might be hard as hell. I believe in this concept.

The movie Norbit was good, so typical of Eddie Murphy's movies. He acted as the chinese guy was quite good, but not as natural as a real one.

Miss Potter to me was a letdown. I saw my friend slept during the whole show beside me. I was yawning too. Maybe its up to individual preference. I see the movie as a bland straightforward show.

I got to watch the match between Spore and Malaysia at the Kallang stadium. Superb match. I was exhilarated all the way and so were my buddies.It was certainly worth it.

Guard duties has been fun. Its more of a movie marathon. Appreciate those that had contributed shows for all to watch. Certainly pleasant.

Daisy

2007-01-13T21:18:00.000+08:00

This is the title of the movie I watched yesterday when I was on guard. It starred the lady in My Sassy Girl. I was pleasantly surprised Ib bought this movie for me. He watched this movie already, but yet he bought it so we could watch this love story together. I was touched.

The storyline is superb. I never expected it to start off or end that way. It was simply breathtaking. As it ended, I could see Ibs eyes welling with tears.

Talking with him is simply enjoyable, as we share the same thoughts feelings. Any girl trying to get fresh with him will not regret it.

He is going to ORD soon, and I think I will be missing one of my best friends in camp.

Rice and Vege

2007-01-11T20:52:00.000+08:00

I saw this couple at a hawker centre. They bought rice, and stirfried kailan as the side dish. They ate happily away. Wao.

They must be vegetarian. I dont think many can survive on food like that. Kudos to them.
:oO

The talk with W/RSM

2007-01-09T20:46:00.000+08:00

I was talking to RSM and former WSM just now. It was better conversing with RSM. It was chilled and cool. With WSM, it was intensed, and the way he looked about the situation, it was like I was doing something wrong. Probably I got the wrong signals from him. Maybe he did not mean it that way.

All the moment when he was in charge of me, he was always putting me down. I dont know his intentions, but I know he meant well. I know he wanted me to be garang, strong and so on, I know that, but his constant cold backlash towards me has slid me downhill.It was not working for me, it was killing the confidence.

I realised how cocked up this fierce implementation was till RSM took over. He never showed me the face that I was some fucking loser or something. I realised I was living in constant fear under the WSM. The fear had made me lose focus and direction. And the effect snowballed.
Under RSM, all changed. I dont feel there was someone out there trailing at me, looking at my every movement, and a bit of error will be given 1 hard fuck. There was no feeling at all. I was glad actually. I could not grow under the WSM. Yeah he meant well, but it just aint going to work for me.
Thinking twice, the harshness gave me a wake up call. Not all people deal with people the same. Some with harshness, some with reasonings and such. Its all up to us to change the situation. It is all up to us to confirm whether we succeed or not.

Fitness Tip 1

2007-01-07T20:22:00.000+08:00

People often say that no matter how hard they excercise, they are still overfat. I am not saying overweight, as there are overweight people around, except that they are not fat, but rather muscular.

The rules are simple. If you consume less than what you burn, you lose that weight. Create a a formula in your program.

Sugar + Oil = Remove

If you can do that, life would be easier to manage. There are many scientific theories that back this up, but I refuse to meddle with this here. It will only confuse others.

This is one of the ways, and there are many other ways to implement. I will tlak about these next time.

Zam Leaving soon

2007-01-06T21:29:00.000+08:00

Finally, my colleagues days are nearing to an end soon. It has been months with him, and working with him has been great. He does a lot of work, and his horsepower is enormous. Hardworking and efficient, he will excel in NUS, and his quest to get laid will soon be realized.

Though he has his moody days, the positive points of him are bigger than the negative. Everyone of us has to learn to adapt to changes, to peoples mood and such. His moody side at times sucked, but we have to learn to accept this painful side of him.

When we are in some organization, we are bound to meet different kinds of people. Learning to accept one anothers characters is very important.

He has helped me a lot, not mentally, but physically. His workrate has been awesome, and I should give him credit for that.

When he leaves, I will feel a sense of loss, just like if you are attached to someone for quite a long time, and after that, he will no longer be in view. The sense of emptiness.

So to Zam, the horse, wish you all the best.

Zam Da Horse

Categories: My Thoughts_